May has no one to blame but herself

The prime minister’s hubris, an addiction to short-term thinking and a surge in the youth vote has sealed her fate

Let us begin with the opprobrium. Eleven days from a negotiation to take this country out of the European Union, a negotiation that will involve hundreds of separate aspects over a concerted two-year period, Britain effectively has no government. The Conservatives have lost their majority and it is unlikely that an administration can be formed. After seven years of essentially Tory government, that is a sorry mess to have led the country into. David Cameron and Theresa May, take a bow.

The consolation for Mr Cameron is only that Mrs May has now overtaken him as the most effective author of chaos. This was an election she did not need to call which exposed her as over-promoted. Her delphic approach to negotiating her way out…

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